| Lining up in an orderly fashion | |
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| Mar 22, 2008 21:02 |   |
 | Last night in Guangzhou, I witnessed a long line of Chinese people waiting patiently for a bus. There was no pushing or shoving, and the whole scene seemed quite orderly and civilised. I have woken up this morning and am wondering if it was just a dream? Has anyone else ever seen such a thing in China? |
| Mar 23, 2008 00:15 | #1 |
| It was a dream, like the one I had just recently. I was in a bank transferring funds abroad. The transaction took about 5 minutes, and not once did anybody thrust their banking info on the agents desk like I wasn't even there.... |
| Mar 23, 2008 00:41 | #2 |
| Well long may our dreams continue! |
| Mar 23, 2008 11:17 | #3 |
| I like pushing and shoving because I am good at it. One just has to be fully committed and practice often. |
| Mar 23, 2008 20:40 | #4 |
| Oh, I am not saying it is not fun to join in the fight. I am 190cms tall, so I always win when I want to, but it is just sometimes nice when things are more orderly. What makes me laugh is when people all push to get on a bus. The younger and fitter people get on first (presumably to get the last remaining seats) and the poor old people have to wait until the chaos has died down to avoid being crushed. Then when the old people do eventually get on, the young people (having got a seat) then stand up and offer it to the old people!! Am I missing something here? Wouldn't it just be easier (and more polite) to let the old people get on first? |
| Mar 24, 2008 02:12 | #5 |
| I hate the pushing and shoving, I'm big enough to take care of myself but there is always someone like the elderly or young children who cant. Alan |
| Mar 24, 2008 16:34 | #6 |
| Pushing and shoving is the Chinese way, you will never change it so you live with it. The old folks and the kids all seem to survive. |
| Mar 24, 2008 20:04 | #7 |
| Well it seems like my original entry must have been a dream, because yesterday as I tried to get off a crowded subway train, the doors opened and everyone piled in before anyone could get out. This then caused lots of panicking and shouting, and the train was delayed in the station for an extra 3 minutes. As well as proving that the orderly bus stop queue must have only existed in my own head, it also proves that pushing and shoving gets you nowhere, and is in fact anti productive. If the Chinese had manners, then they really would be the envy of the world! |
| Mar 24, 2008 21:03 | #8 |
| Baron, it is a dream. If you had been to Xi'an, you will have understood that it is a dream that can never be realized. The buses are very crowded. Once I was there, I witnessed that a city bus was forced to stop. So many guys crowded into the bus but they couldn't get on because the bus was full of people and couldn't accommodate more. However, they didn't give up. Some of them said that they had been waiting for very long and several buses had passed but they didn't stop. This is what I saw. BTW, I hear that Xi'an is building subway. Hope the situation can be changed after the subway is constructed. If you take the lift, you will have the same experience. When the door opens, people just stand in your way start to get in. However, you haven't got out at the moment. Why can't they wait for people inside get out and then get in the lift? Don't they understand that they can't get in if people in the lift don't come out? |
| Mar 25, 2008 21:20 | #9 |
| BBQQ - after several years of experiencing the same problem, it would seem they don't understand. I have no other possible explanation. The Chinese are generally intelligent, but they do seem to have a problem in this particular area. |
| Mar 25, 2008 22:53 | #10 |
| I doubt that the whole world would envy people that earn, on average, say GBP70/month even if they had, by western standards, impeccable manners. It is easy enough to avoid the pushing and shoving. Simply go by taxi, it will cost less than it would cost to go by 'subway' in London anyway. |
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